ANOTHER "AFTER KELO" STORY--FROM THE NY TIMES:

More than a month after the Supreme Court ruled that governments could take one person's property and give it to another in the name of public interest, the decision has set off a storm of legislative action and protest, as states have moved to protect homes and businesses from the expanded reach of eminent domain.

In California and Texas, legislators have proposed constitutional amendments, while at least a dozen other states and some cities are floating similar changes designed to rein in the power to take property.

But at the same time, the ruling has emboldened some cities to take property for development plans on private land.

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Via Hit & Run, I think.

FOOD AND WATER:

THE high court ruled today doctors do have the power to withdraw food and drink from terminally ill patients--even if it is against their wishes.

The General Medical Council (GMC) was appealing against a previous ruling that gave Lesley Burke--who suffers from a degenerative brain condition--the right to insist on nutrition during the final stages of his illness. ...

Philip Havers QC, representing the GMC, said the [overturned] ruling would force doctors to provide the treatment a patient demanded even if the doctor's view was the treatment would not provide any benefit.

He said a patient did not have the right to demand any particular form of treatment.

Mr Burke, of Lancaster, suffers from cerebellar ataxia and sought the original ruling because he feared he would be in no condition to insist on food and water when his disease reached its final stages.

Joyce Robins, co-director of human rights campaign group Patient Concern, said the decision was a disappointment.

She said: "Doctors again have extraordinary power over us, making decisions on how and when we die.

"This is a huge step backwards for patients.

"The right to food and water is a right to simple basic sustenance but
because they are considered treatment, they can now be taken away."

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Via Andrew Sullivan's guest-blogger.

Everybody's got blogwatch but me...

JaneGalt (or rather, a guest-blogger thereat): Whaddya know--Kennedy didn't say he was a jelly donut.

After Kelo: A roundup of state-level efforts to curb eminent domain abuse. Via... maybe the Volokh Conspiracy? Not sure.

Celebs Against Farm Subsidies!:

...The photo shoots were organized by the nonprofit advocacy group Oxfam America as part of an ad campaign to raise awareness of what they say is the unfair nature of agricultural subsidies. The campaign urges wealthy nations like the United States and European countries to stop dumping agricultural products onto the world market, which Oxfam argues makes it impossible for farmers in poor countries to compete.

The celebrities who agreed to be dumped on--the actors Minnie Driver, Colin Firth and Antonio Banderas; U2's lead singer, Bono; Coldplay's lead singer, Chris Martin; R.E.M.'s lead singer, Michael Stipe; Alanis Morrissette; and Radiohead's lead singer, Thom Yorke--say they donated their time for the campaign because they believe it is important to level the playing field for developing nations.

"People think more aid will help, but it won't," said Ms. Driver, an actress who is working on her second music CD. "Trade is the surest way of decreasing the savage amount of poverty in our world. These countries have got to be able to trade fairly." ...

Oxfam America estimates that from 2001 to 2003, the presence of artificially cheap American cotton on the world market caused an estimated $400 million in losses to farmers in these West African nations. American producers account for roughly 40 percent of the world's cotton exports, giving them considerable influence over prices, according to the International Cotton Advisory Committee, an association of the governments of cotton producing and consuming nations.

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Via JaneGalt.

DO MOTHERS MATTER?: Discussion thread sparked by this post. Start here and scroll down.

From the initial post: "Do children perceive [] their parents as gender-free beings? Do children ever talk about 'my parent'? Why does gender matter so much to gays and lesbians, who only want to partner with someone of the same gender, but it's not supposed to matter at all to their kids, who supposedly don't give a hoot whether their 'parents' are embodied as male or female, or whether the bodies they came out of (a male one and a female one) are the same bodies caring for them everyday? Why is 'embodiment' such a hot topic among liberal academics when it refers to fun things like sexuality and the discourse of fashion or whatever, but children aren't supposed to care about their own embodiment and its links to the embodied parents who conceived them, and who may or may not be the people raising them?"

WHAT IS LIBERALISM?--the blog. New home of Lawrence Krubner.

"THE GILDED AGE": WHAT SHALL I CRY? Current short story, a.k.a. The Fall of the House of Being. In this episode, Margaret's interrogation; Douglas's funeral; Colin's colonial days. Story so far; new episode.

HARRY POTTER SPOILER IN THE STYLE OF WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS. I laughed very hard when I read this.

IF YOU HAVE A SENATOR, click here. Via Unqualified Offerings.

THE AWAKENING: From the Washington Post. Heart-rending; this is only a tiny snippet.

"Are you glad to see me?" Pat would say. "Look at that smile. Now relax your arm. Relax, sweetheart. Say, my name is Sarah. Say, I'm hungry. Say, I'm thirsty. Say, I want to eat. I want to talk. Are you ready to talk? Yes, you are ready to talk."

Sarah would blink. And deep inside that face in which others saw only blank stares, Pat Rincon saw a flicker. ...

When Sarah started talking, they asked her where she had been, what she remembered.

Somebody asked her how old she was.

"I'm 18," her brother, Jim, recalls her trying to say.

"You are not 18, Sarah," he told her.

So she conceded: "I'm 22."

"No, you are 38."

But Sarah insisted she was 22.

"She missed a long time," her dad says. "She missed delightful periods of her life. I said if she wants to be 22, let her be 22."

In May, Sarah turned 39.

Her mother asked if she was aware of 9/11.

"I said, do you know about New York? She said, 'Yeah.' She said, 'Airplanes. Buildings. Smoke.' I said, 'Anything else?' She said, 'No.' I said, 'Do you know about Oklahoma City?' She said, 'Children. Hospitals.' "

People assumed she knew about them because her television was on, imprinting images in her brain.

more

via The Corner.

COOL PEOPLE WRITE COOL BOOKS: From Amy Welborn:

Michael and I are in the midst of a 30-day push to sell our books, particularly Here.Now and How to Get the Most out of the Eucharist. We want to try to compensate for the fact that their release in the spring was overwhelmed by Pope Books of every kind and size. We'll be donating the proceeds from our Amazon affiliates account, as well as the royalties from this period to Food for the Poor where, if we can earn $2000, we can build a house for a family in Nicaragua.

Both of these books are for Everyday Catholics who need a boost or a little substantive catechesis. I wrote Here.Now, inspired by my young adult sons. I didn't see much--if anything--in the Catholic market to help young Catholics connect Jesus-Church-Life...so I wrote one. It's simple really, but I just wanted to help young adults see what sometimes their exposure to the faith--usually just Sunday Mass--takes for granted and has perhaps never really made clear.

Michael's book was inspired by the responses he got to talks after he wrote the How-To Book of the Mass, during which he was often bombarded with complaints and concerns about the way in which Mass was being celebrated and the way people wre experiencing it. It was also impacted by life here at St. Blog's in which many of us spend a great deal of energy complaining about abuses, ill-dressed teenage girls and boring homilies, rather than focusing on Christ in the Eucharist, and trusting in His Presence there. He uses the letters in the word SACRIFICE to make his point. It's very good.

So if you have friends, acquaintances or fellow parishioners whom you think might benefit from our books, please check out the links, read Michael's post today, and check out the links. Last week we reached some great heights on the Amazon list--thanks for that. Thanks for the Amazon reviewer who bought 5 copies of Here. Now!

LIFE FOR A BLOGGING FAMILY IN BAGHDAD. I forget where I saw this.

THE IDEOLOGY OF TERROR: Olivier Roy

...Conflicts in the Middle East have a tremendous impact on Muslim public opinion worldwide. In justifying its terrorist attacks by referring to Iraq, Al Qaeda is looking for popularity or at least legitimacy among Muslims. But many of the terrorist group's statements, actions and non-actions indicate that this is largely propaganda, and that Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine are hardly the motivating factors behind its global jihad.

First, let's consider the chronology. ...

"Born again" or converts, they are rebels looking for a cause. They find it in the dream of a virtual, universal ummah, the same way the ultraleftists of the 1970s (the Baader-Meinhof Gang, the Italian Red Brigades) cast their terrorist actions in the name of the "world proletariat" and "Revolution" without really caring about what would happen after.

It is also interesting to note that none of the Islamic terrorists captured so far had been active in any legitimate antiwar movements or even in organized political support for the people they claim to be fighting for. They don't distribute leaflets or collect money for hospitals and schools. They do not have a rational strategy to push for the interests of the Iraqi or Palestinian people. ...

The Western-based Islamic terrorists are not the militant vanguard of the Muslim community; they are a lost generation, unmoored from traditional societies and cultures, frustrated by a Western society that does not meet their expectations.

And their vision of a global ummah is both a mirror of and a form of revenge against the globalization that has made them what they are.

more

via Hit & Run.

WHITE HOUSE AIMS TO BLOCK LEGISLATION ON DETAINEES: From the Washington Post:

The Bush administration in recent days has been lobbying to block legislation supported by Republican senators that would bar the U.S. military from engaging in "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment" of detainees, from hiding prisoners from the Red Cross, and from using interrogation methods not authorized by a new Army field manual. ...

One McCain amendment would set uniform standards for interrogating anyone detained by the Defense Department and would limit interrogation techniques to those listed in the Army field manual on interrogation, now being revised. Any changes to procedures would require the defense secretary to appear before Congress.

It would further require that all foreign nationals in the custody or effective control of the U.S. military must be registered with the International Committee of the Red Cross -- a provision specifically meant to block the holding of "ghost detainees" in Iraq, in Afghanistan or elsewhere. The provision would not apply to detainees in CIA custody at nonmilitary facilities.

Military investigations into the abuse in 2003 of detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad disclosed that dozens were held without being registered at numerous prisons; the administration has said it needed to do so to conduct interrogations in isolation and to hide the identity of prisoners from other terrorists.

Another McCain amendment prohibits the "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" of anyone in the custody of the U.S. government. This provision, modeled after wording in the U.N. Convention Against Torture -- which the United States has already ratified -- is meant to overturn an administration position that the convention does not apply to foreigners outside the United States.

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via Andrew Sullivan.

HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOGGED PRINCE: A bit more. Won't be doing more of these unless I come across something really awesome.

water, healing, and Slytherins
a rambly review with which I almost entirely agree (and the stuff about Tom Riddle almost reconciled me to what is still by far my least favorite section of the new book)
this is a book about reading under the influence
more on fathers and sons

All of those are very much worth your time if you're a Potter fan; the first one has pretty much convinced me that I should read John Granger's book, which I'd been avoiding as it seemed likely to be full of special pleading.

SICUT CERVUS: This Positive Liberty post (via Jon Rowe) on "how not to make me ex-gay" captures pretty much everything I like least about this... what? "movement"?

First off, the "ex-gay" writer's description of gay life: "Unlike homosexuals, heterosexuals sacrifice themselves and their personal desires for the sake of their partners. They commit to each other and care for each other even when times are difficult. Being 'gay' is only about sex, and that's no way to have a life."

Jesus wept, people, read some daggone Evelyn Waugh why don't you! Read some Augustine. What on earth would make you think that sin never contains any seed of goodness, any element of love? St. Augustine thought precisely the opposite of that--that every sin was a virtue misdirected.

(Oh, and does the writer know any heterosexuals? Or even read books about them? Because I realize they're odd creatures, with bizarre folkways, but... I can recommend some basic materials.)

So at first, my reaction to this post was just the usual inchoate fury: "Why can't we just kill everyone in the world and start over?!"

But then I noticed my other huge problem with the "ex-gay" form letter Jason describes: There's nothing to be loved. There's nothing beautiful to Whom the writer cleaves. There's only something horrible to be shunned. And while I have some personal sympathy for that perspective--the horror of sin is sometimes much easier for me to see than the beauty of Christ--it's a thoroughly crippled view of the Christian life.

I believe what the Catholic Church teaches not solely--not even, when I'm at my best, primarily--because the alternatives are ugly. Quite often the alternatives are attractive, insofar as they partake in a partial share of the goodness, love, and grace that God offers. I believe what the Catholic Church teaches because, when I'm at my best, I love Jesus Christ, I love God, and I can faintly discern the beauty, hope, and peace He wants for me.

Accept no substitutes.

HELL HAS NO THERMOSTAT... AND HEAVEN HAS NO CHURCH SIGNS. I don't agree with all of this site's judgments, whether rhetorical or theological (re the former, I find "All saints have a past. All sinners have a future" quite moving), but nonetheless, a fun site. Via Relapsed Catholic.

SEX OR GENDER?: Book review by Sara Butler.

Various related posts with my own take on such matters: here, here.

JOHN HOWARD ON LONDON ATTACKS:

Can I just say very directly, Paul, on the issue of the policies of my government and indeed the policies of the British and American governments on Iraq, that the first point of reference is that once a country allows its foreign policy to be determined by terrorism, it's given the game away, to use the vernacular. And no Australian government that I lead will ever have policies determined by terrorism or terrorist threats, and no self-respecting government of any political stripe in Australia would allow that to happen.

Can I remind you that the murder of 88 Australians in Bali took place before the operation in Iraq.

And I remind you that the 11th of September occurred before the operation in Iraq.

Can I also remind you that the very first occasion that bin Laden specifically referred to Australia was in the context of Australia's involvement in liberating the people of East Timor. Are people by implication suggesting we shouldn't have done that?

When a group claimed responsibility on the website for the attacks on the 7th of July, they talked about British policy not just in Iraq, but in Afghanistan. Are people suggesting we shouldn't be in Afghanistan?

When Sergio de Mello was murdered in Iraq -- a brave man, a distinguished international diplomat, a person immensely respected for his work in the United Nations -- when al Qaeda gloated about that, they referred specifically to the role that de Mello had carried out in East Timor because he was the United Nations administrator in East Timor.

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"THE GILDED AGE": THE RISE AND FALL OF PRACTICALLY EVERYTHING. Have started new story. May abandon--suspect this may have been done better by others. But maybe not. So: a family tragedy, a political fantasy, an everyday apocalypse. Because every ending has a beginning; and this ending begins here. ...And yes, "Margaret" is a shout-out.

NITWIT. BLUBBER. BLOGWATCH. TWEAK. Some Potter posts I've enjoyed in recent days. The spoilers--they're breeding! So don't click if you don't want to know what happens. Some of my favorite aspects of the book aren't touched on in these posts, because I haven't found one post that summarizes what I'd want to say on those topics; and many of my least-favorite aspects aren't touched on because most of the posts I've read that growl at the same things I growled at are, frankly, over the top. (Although if you click on the Percy post and do a "find on this page" for "honestly, what kind of ethics," there's a little taste of character-loathing that I very much share.) Also, I've seen some fascinating speculations about events in the final book, but I lost those links (except for this one and this one), so you don't get 'em. Finally, there's cussin' and other not-for-kids stuff in several of these posts, so assume neither the imprimatur nor the nihil obstat. Anyway, here, enjoy!
thestrals bored Draco
father figures
wish I was a tin can, then someone could redeem me
page 394
Percy
Weasley Is Our King (with graphic!)

ETA: Dumbledore's man. (I feel for you, you little horror....)